Zach Hanson moves from coaching USC tight ends to offensive line

Already set to turn over most of its offensive line, USC has moved quickly to replace departed offensive line coach Josh Henson with a familiar face.

Zach Hanson, who spent the past three seasons as USC’s tight ends coach, will transition to lead the Trojans’ offensive line.

He replaces Josh Henson, who left Tuesday to become the offensive coordinator at Purdue. While Henson technically held the same title at USC, he will step into a role that calls upon new Boilermakers coach Barry Odom, who previously coached with Henson at Missouri.

Hanson’s move to offensive line coach also leaves USC without an assistant working with the tight ends. It was unclear Wednesday morning how or if Lincoln Riley planned to fill that opening.

“In addition to coaching our tight ends and being an excellent recruiter, Zach has been instrumental in working with our offensive linemen at USC,” Riley said in a statement. “He has had great experience coaching the offensive line at Tulsa and Kansas State. We are excited to have Zach lead this unit and develop our offensive line.”

Hanson, a former offensive tackle at Kansas State, last coached the offensive line when he spent two seasons (2020-21) as the offensive line coach at Tulsa. Prior to that, he was an assistant offensive line coach at Kansas State for one season (2018).

He takes the reins of USC’s offensive line with much less experience than his predecessor. Henson’s three seasons made him the longest tenured offensive line coach at USC in a decade. But his time at the helm of the Trojan front will be remembered as a largely uneventful one. After a strong showing in 2022, behind a veteran line, USC’s front took a step back in 2023, then struggled to start the 2024 season before holding on in the second half of the season.

The quick decision to move Hanson to offensive line coach is believed to help limit any potential fallout from Henson’s exit, which was expected to leave USC’s offensive line on even shakier ground. Hanson will already have his hands full with three starters to replace and not much depth from which to select their replacements.

Left guard Emmanuel Pregnon and center Jonah Monheim are headed to the NFL, while right tackle Mason Murphy has already signed with Auburn as a transfer. Two key reserves on the interior, Gino Quinones and Amos Talalele, have also already entered the transfer portal along with rookie Kalolo Ta’aga.

The departures leave USC in a precarious position ahead of its Dec. 27 bowl game, with only a few backups available for a patchwork line. Aside from the two returning starters Elijah Paige and Alani Noa, the entire returning offensive line space has just 161 total snaps between them, more than half of which belong to offensive tackle Tobias Raymond (86).

Paige, whose presence is now very important, assured last week that he planned to stay at USC. But that was prior to Henson’s exit Tuesday.

“I committed here because I see Coach Riley’s vision,” Paige said. “I believe in it. I trust it. I’m a part of it.”

Those plans have already been tested over the past week when 18 players, four of them linemen, hit the transfer portal. USC will get some reinforcements soon enough, having signed four offensive linemen during the early signing window, including two top-150 tackles. The Trojans are also expected to target several linemen on the transfer portal.

It wasn’t the path Riley and Henson had hoped to follow when they outlined their plans for the offensive line last fall. Then both made it clear they hoped to rely on high school recruiting as their primary focus upfront.

But plans have since changed. Henson is now headed to Purdue. And Hanson is set to take his place, with a tall task ahead of him.